Are some political party stances due to random chance?, with Michael Macy
An interview with Dr. Michael Macy of Cornell University, who has done research on "opinion cascades," showing that some political party stances on specific issues may be rather arbitrary, the result of initial conditions and how early influencers staked out political positions. This means that some stances that are strongly associated with a certain political party could just as easily be associated more with the opposite political party. Support the showTo get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work.
People Who Read People: A Behavior and Psychology Podcast
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Show Notes
I talk with Michael Macy, whose research on “opinion cascades” show how some political group stances on issues can be rather arbitrary and due to initial conditions. Similar to how in many complex systems, slightly different initial conditions can lead to vastly different results later on, the early conditions in a country, including early opinion-holders and influencers, can influence a political party to be aligned with one or another stance on an issue. These early choices have a cascading effect, meaning that, for some issues, the political parties could hold reversed positions if things had gone a bit differently.
Topics discussed: How was his opinion cascade research set up? What political party stances might be due to fundamental ideological differences versus which ones may be more arbitrary and due to chance? Could Democrat and Republican party stances on abortion, immigration, and other issues actually be reversed in a slightly different world? How does this work relate to problematic political polarization? Is there something inherent in humans that lead them to form contentious us-versus-them groups?
Learn more about the show and get transcripts at behavior-podcast.com.
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